The Depiction of Animal Cruelty Law is being called into question in the U.S. Supreme Court today in an attempt to finalize the illegality of distributing film which shows animal cruelty. That would make adding footage to your documentary which depicts something horrible done to an animal as unlawful as child pornography. Showing slaughterhouse footage in your documentary on the food industry could be against the law, if the Supreme court rules broadly in favor of this legislation.

“The threat to the film community is obvious when one considers films such as ‘The Cove’ and ‘Food, Inc.,’ to name two recent ones or ‘Roger and Me,’ to go back just a little ways,” said Michael C. Donaldson, a Beverly Hills lawyer, speaking for four documentary-maker trade groups that joined in filing a brief in support of Stevens. “Certainly videos concerning hunting could fall within this statute, even though, as in Stevens case, the hunting was legal where the video was shot.”

This may be a case in which congressmen wanted to stop a particular perversion, “crush videos,” but wrote a law which reasonably applies to far more than that. You can read more on what the justices have said and the prosecuted filmmaker’s intent on Bloomberg.com.

I’m sorry this won’t be very long. I’m not feeling very well, and it’s difficult to type. More details will come later.

The last day of battle went pretty well, and I felt we’d gotten past whatever our trouble was. Then, in the very last program, I received another stab in the upper lip, and got a whack on the hand that immediately set it swelling inside my fighting glove, leading me to cancel our very last fight.

An X-ray revealed that no bones were broken. It’s just a broken blood vessel. But my velcro splint makes typing a little difficult.

I don’t know why my favorite sport has suddenly become dangerous. If we can’t figure out the problem, I may have to hang up my helmet.

Also I seem to have caught something that kept one of the other Vikings out of action for a day. There’s no consensus on what it was. He thinks it was Walking Pneumonia, while somebody else said H1N1 Flu.

Cheers!

World has a stirring interview with a guy working to get alcoholics and other addicts on their feet (subscription required). “Misdirected compassion was keeping those people on the streets and killing them on the installment plan, a little every day,” said Bob Cote of the organization Step 13. He said the holidays are a bad time for pan-handlers, because $10 from someone trying to be compassionate can enable them to kill themselves. “They’ll get drunk, get hit by a car, or maybe freeze to death,” he said.

Today is the final day of Hostfest, and I’m sitting in a corner behind a Viking tent, because I need to plug the laptop in. Last night I thought I was re-charging it as I slept, but apparently I was draining it instead.

Sorry to report that I have no further serious injuries to catalog. I got a sharp smack on the wrist at one point yesterday, but things that don’t leave a mark don’t count at this point. My hand actually feels better today, and a lot of the swelling has gone down. My upper lip is still a little numb, but I rarely smile anyway, so who’s to tell?

I haven’t told you about our host. This year I attained the heart of the Inner Circle in the Viking Age Club, by achieving the honor of being permitted to stay at Grace’s house.

When we come to Minot, we’re always housed with locals, at the expense of the festival (thank you, Festival! Most especially Touchstone Energy, which provides our Viking camp space!). But only the old-timers get to stay with Grace.

Grace is a widow lady who cleans houses for a living. Those who stay with her have to share a single bathroom, and sometimes have to sleep on a couch (though more often Grace takes the couch). She’s flexible beyond all reason, not giving a hoot how early we leave or how late we come in. She’s one of those people who have very little in this world, but whatever they have is yours if you need it.

She’s also a devout Christian of the fundamentalist variety, and not at all bashful about talking about it.

I think most of the members of our club at this point are at least nominal Christians. We lost our heathens back in the time of the Great Viking Schism.

But if anyone in our group ever experiences a profound Christian conversion, I suspect it will have more to do with Grace’s faith active in love than with my sullen (and rare) reasonings.

(Dateline Minot, ND) Well, what do you know? Live steel combat isn’t as safe as I said it was.

Yesterday I got a good solid crack on my right thumb which, I feared, would keep me from holding the sword solidly. Fortunately it’s not as bad today as I expected, though swollen and stiff.

Today I got a good smash on the right little finger, which broke the skin and required a bandage. In a later fight, Ragnar managed to stab me (the point being blunt, of course) just above the mouth, again on the right side. It’s a nasty place for an abrasian, because it won’t take a bandage well (due to my beard), but I’m frankly delighted to have a dueling scar at last. I was wounded with a sword! What could be cooler than that?

And yes, I’m entirely aware of how insane that sounds.

On the other hand, you know the chicks dig it.

We did our final set today without injury (not for lack of trying on my part, I assure you).

In other Hostfest news, the crowds are large, and from my experience they’re in the mood to spend money. If my book sales keep up as they’ve started, I’ll go home very satisfied (and not just with my rakish scar).

Reba McEntire was the big concert the first night. Other acts on the big stage include Clint Black and Ray Stevens. There’s also a special venue for Abbacadabra, an Abba tribute group, and William Christopher (who played Father Mulcahy on M*A*S*H*) stars as the pastor in a production of the major midwest hit, “Lutheran Church Basement Ladies” (no, I didn’t make that up).

And, as in previous years, The Oak Ridge Boys are doing two shows a day just around the corner from us. At the moment, they’re singing “The Boys are Back.”

More as the situation develops.

If I live.

I’m off to Norsk Høstfest in Minot, ND. Come see me in the Viking Village if you’re headed that way. I’ll try to keep you updated occasionally, via WiFi, if I’m able. Otherwise, see you in about a week.

(And if you’re thinking of robbing my house while I’m gone, my renter will still be here. And he’s mean.)

I’ll be offline for a while, enjoying the family and, I hope, local foods. Be seeing you.

I’m rushing tonight, as I’ve got to help the Vikings load a van for Høstfest in Minot next week. So just a couple items.

Maxine at Petrona reports on a new history of the Viking Age which I find intriguing. Looks like somebody is stepping up to argue back against the “peaceful Vikings” meme that’s had so much currency in the last twenty or thirty years. I’ll defend the Vikings in some contexts, but I’m sick of seeing Vikings portrayed as “victims” of those nasty Christians. Victims is the last thing they’d want to be known as.



(Tip: Dave Lull)

And from England, a web site devoted to the Staffordshire Hoard, found in England last July.

The Staffordshire Hoard is an unparalleled treasure find dating from Anglo-Saxon times. Both the quality and quantity of this unique treasure are remarkable. The story of how it came to be left in the Staffordshire soil is likely to be more remarkable still.

Big news for us reenactors.



(Tip: Wulfric Solvarsson)

Someone save us from the pseudo-scientists! One U.K. company is fining and rewarded employees based on their carbon output.

Britain’s first employee carbon rationing scheme is about to be extended, after the trial demonstrated the effectiveness of fining people for exceeding their personal emissions target. Unlike the energy-saving schemes adopted by thousands of companies, the rationing scheme monitors employees’ personal emissions, including home energy bills, petrol purchases and holiday flights.

Commenter Chris Bock, whom I assume is British says, “Right now hardly anyone is standing up and fighting for civil liberties in Britain. People want to accept being herded and prodded, their lives micromanged and filmed to the minute, their lives compounded by ever increasing fines and taxes for minor everyday infractions of local and national laws designed to generate such income. Britain will wake up one morning and realize they are a democratic society in name only and anyone crowing about civil liberties and individualism will be deemed Enemies of the State.”

Looks very much like The Village in Patrick Mcgoohan’s show The Prisoner. Perhaps if the once great British would return to their God, preaching the gospel in Canterbury and London, they would stand up for themselves again, defend their families, protect their neighbors, and put away the corruption of the world. But I probably shouldn’t talk like that. It’s undefined, too general, and I just sound like a religious nut. [via Sweetness & Light]